- Originally published in The Washington Post on August 19, 2004
Effi Barry Defends Ex-Husband
By: Hamil R. Harris and Lori Montgomery
For years, Effi Barry stayed quiet. She stood by her man through the
drink and the girlfriends, through the FBI drug sting and the
humiliating publication of that grainy videotape, through the drug and
perjury trial that ended in a federal prison term. And when it all was
over, she divorced former Mayor Marion Barry (D) and quietly
disappeared.
Now, more than a decade later, Effi Barry is back. She spoke by phone
Monday on talk show host Joe Madison's show on WOL radio, defending her
ex-husband's latest attempt at a political comeback and calling him
"one of the most intelligent men that I have ever known."
"If anyone has been hurt in the whole scenario of Marion's downfall,
for certain, it was his family, [son] Christopher and me," she said.
But "over the years, we have been able to heal and to carry on with our
lives."
Despite the pain Barry caused his third wife by smoking crack cocaine
and carrying on with Rasheeda Moore, an alleged girlfriend who became
an FBI informant, Effi Barry said she and her ex-husband are now
"friends . . . bound by our son." The two have been seen together in
public recently, since the former mayor separated from his fourth wife,
Cora Masters Barry.
But while Marion Barry "will always be family," Effi Barry said she is
"very, very objective" about him. As he mounts a challenge to Ward 8
council member Sandy Allen (D), rumors are spreading that his health is
failing, that he's back on drugs, that he's short on cash. All of it's
vicious, Effi Barry said, and only part of it is true.
The true part: His health is not great.
"Unfortunately, you men don't necessarily take care of yourselves as
you should," she told Madison. "Consequently, Marion has high blood
pressure and he has diabetes. Two very, very serious chronic illnesses.
. . . We are adamantly asking him every day: What are you eating? Are
you taking your medicine? Are you taking your insulin?"
But "anybody who knows Marion knows that public service is the
adrenaline that keeps him going. He is up for the task because serving
people is what he loves," Effi Barry said. "Look at his history. You
can't deny the fact that his life has been about serving others. The
people of Ward 8 love him, and they need him."
On the matter of finances, Effi Barry said her ex-husband is doing
fine. "He has some money, but money has never been important to Marion.
When we were married, I used to complain to him all the time: People
who work for you are living better than we are.
"He made a lot of people wealthy. I am not talking about black
neighborhood wealthy. I am talking about extremely wealthy," she said.
"He increased the financial status of black people, white people,
yellow people and brown people. He made several billionaires and many
millionaires." But "Barry-bashing has made it difficult" for Barry
himself to "earn the kind of money that he deserves, because people do
not want to necessarily connect themselves with Marion Barry," she said.
As for drugs, Effi Barry declined to respond directly to Madison's
question about rumors "being circulated in high levels" of the city
that the former mayor still has a drug problem.
"I do not know Marion Barry as a drug addict. I have never seen Marion
take drugs," she said. "I know when we were married he had a drinking
problem, which allowed him to become the victim of his so-called
friends who, as it came out in court, did supply him with drugs and
women. But I don't know Marion Barry as a man with a drug problem."
In sum, Effi Barry said she believes her ex-husband would be good for Ward 8.
"He brings hope. He personifies determination because, even though he
has been beaten down, he is like a phoenix and still he rises," she
said. "He is a strong man and he will be a strong fighter for the
people of that ward."